The Excellence's Linear Catapult has opened as the Mech Knights controlled by Avalon rushed out.

They aim to get closer to the Black Sovereign and confirm the existence of the Cube of Paradox… It is hard to scan the vessel with their current distance as the enemy's ECM is still active and very strong.

Of course, there is still another Black Sovereign on the side which is being kept at bay by the Excellence's unending Mana Waves, Mana Bullets, Lasers, and their Impulse Cannon from time to time…

It doesn't matter whether they waste their energy right now as long as they can confirm the existence of their objective…

In truth, a part of Ace's mind is hoping that the Cube wasn't in their possession and was just a mistake from their side… After all, this can become a huge threat to them if they were unable to take care of it now.

Boom! Boom!

His Mech Knights were trying to destroy the final layer of their Energy Barrier… If they successfully destroy this, Avalon's scanners can sweep through the spaceship unhindered.

However, as he expected it's not going to be easy…

[ Incoming missiles detected. ]

[ Intercepting with Centrifugal Mana Gun and Tri-Elemental Turrets ]

The Tri-Elemental Turrets that he has were inspired by the Golden Trident Group's Elemental Turret that was previously installed on his property.

The main difference was that Wallace's turret can only cast 3 types of converted mana or elements, while the security company has about 5 or more…

However, his turret can fire Adept Level Mana Spells while the other can only fire at a Battle Mage Level… The power behind the two has a huge gap since Adept Level Spells could never be compared to a Battle Mage's.

"Monitor the heat… Activate the cooling system if it reached 30%... We only need to last 3 or 5 minutes more…"

[ Affirmative. ]

They have to avoid getting their main weapons overheated. Although this is being monitored by Avalon, the cooling system would only be activated if the heat integrity had already reached 10%... This is why Wallace change the settings for the cooling system to be activated at 30.

Boom! Boom!

The missiles were numerous and it was even being followed by various beam cannons… It is difficult to intercept all of the missiles. If not for their improved Mana Pulse Barrier they would be having a tough time right now…

"Avalon! Hurry up!"

[ Yes. ]

The A.I. replied as it did its best to hasten the destruction of the Black Sovereign's energy shield.

Bang!

[ Destruction confirmed. ]

[ Initiating Veda's Energy Tracer and Scanner… ]

[ Cube of Paradox identified… 89% Match Rating… ]

"It's real… Very well… We need to take it!"

Ace shouted as he knows that they were running out of time… He can see that the Flagship and the others have already dissipated the Mana Spells that are binding them temporarily.

[ … ]

[ Permission to Self Destruct 10 Mech Knights to make a hole in the Cube's path. ]

"Alright! Do it!"

[ Permission Granted. ]

[ Activating Mech Knight's Mana Overload… ]

Ace did not hesitate at all even though this is a huge reduction to their current force… Those machines aren't just lumps of metal by their money but also a soldier that can take on 20 or so Adept Mages at the same time…

Letting them self-destruct here pained his heart a little. However, he knows that Avalon has already calculated all possible scenarios and this should be the best course of action to take the Cube of Paradox with them…

A few seconds passed after he permitted Avalon's plan… He heard a series of explosions that greatly damaged the Black Sovereign. Due to the impact of the explosions, the other Black Sovereign was even pushed back as it tried to avoid getting caught in that explosion…

"Hurry!"

The remaining Mech Knights used Mana Spells meant to incapacitate people as they headed to the Cube's last detected position… The explosion disoriented the people within the spaceship but Wallace believed that their multiple physical enhancements and gene modifications would allow them to recover quickly.

They need to act fast…

Beep!

[ The Cube has been found. ]

Wallace then saw the live feed from the Mech Knight that managed to blast through the spaceship's hull…

The Cube is in a room filled with fire and debris…

It is contained within a special device meant to harness a part of its power…

The Mech Knight quickly acted and tried to take the Cube…

However, as it tried to lift it, Avalon detected an incoming danger!

***

Hilda left her Radiant Knight in the hangar to be taken care of by the technicians. Although she managed to return with her Knight in a complete piece, the Mech Knight's internal structure appears to have overheated due to the opponent's radiation coming from their beam cannons.

They have to ensure that it wouldn't cause any problems later on. Nevertheless, this has also allowed them to learn the destructiveness of the beams that the enemies are using.

In the meantime, she watched the Excellence's battle against the enemy's Black Sovereign through the live feed coming from the nearest Observer Ward that Wallace had initially placed before the battle even started.

"Why is he looking so desperate?"

"This is too reckless.."

Hilda heard the comments from the other pilots that were similarly watching the battle.

She could understand them as she's thinking the same thing.

At this time, Ace should've commanded Avalon to fall back at their second line of defense already.

It would be very dangerous for him if he stayed any longer as the Flagship would surely stop him from escaping once it managed to remove their Mana Spells with its sheer force.

"Wallace… You're running out of time…" Hilda whispered as she prayed for the man's safety. They could only hope that everything would be alright.

Then, they saw the multiple self-destruction of the Mech Knights which surprised them a lot!

Most of them were even unable to utter any words showing how shocked they are. None of them thought that Wallace would sacrifice those Mech Knights just like that…

However, this also made them rethink his current situation…

'There must be something going on…'

'What is his objective? Why is he so eager on destroying that spaceship?'

'Is it an act of revenge for something? None of the pilots died though? At most, some of us were injured and exhausted.'

'There must be a reason for his action… He knows what he's doing… He's a guy who planned too far ahead for this specific day. He wouldn't make a mistake like this.'

As they did their best to understand Wallace's current plans, they saw another huge explosion inside the Black Sovereign…

For sure, that spaceship is done for. There was no way it would still be capable of functioning after all the damages it has endured until now.

Whoosshh~

They suddenly saw a huge beam almost eat up half of the Excellence's body…

It came from the Flagship!

The Empire's main fleet can now move and join the battle.

Their Mana Spells bought them some precious time but as Wallace said, it may not be as effective if they decided to use it again since they would surely come up with a countermeasure already.

They have to assume that the Empire has superior A.I. so they can't be complacent with their current success.

As they are starting to get worried for Wallace, they saw the Excellence activating all its boosters whether Mana-Based or not as it hurried away from its current position.

However, they are still quite worried as they watched the Imperial Flagship…

They noticed that it didn't chase Wallace and instead stayed near the damaged Black Sovereign…

On the other hand, the five Conqueror Starships that were first caught in their traps were also showing signs of being destroyed internally. The Celestial Blood must've done its job effectively.

***

Wallace's face is filled with disappointment at the result of their attempt to take the Cube.

Apparently, the last explosion inside the Black Sovereign was caused by the destruction of the Cube.

The Empire has probably considered getting the Cube stolen so they've designed a unique setup for it… Once the Cube was removed from the device it was placed on, an explosion meant for its destruction would be triggered.

Ace thought that its pieces blown away might still be valuable once collected considering their last experience with it, but the Imperial Flagship has already arrived and stopped him from taking further actions… Its cannon was so huge that their Excellence was almost sucked in at its line of fire.

It was such a shame to leave like this but there was no way that his precious spaceship would fight against the gigantic flagship that is more than ten times its size.

"I guess this is also fine…" Ace muttered as he accepted the result of his actions.

He should already be happy that the Empire could no longer use one of their Cubes of Paradox.